RTW: p66 – Wonders of Brazil, Pantanal

That night we checked out an all South American Rafain show with buffet. It was the first real vegetarian food I’d seen in a while so i ate shitloads! The show was pretty good, dancing, singing, comedy etc.
In the morning we bused into Paraguay for some Tax-free shopping. The bridge was crammed with cars and bikes returning with goods that really didn’t seem any cheaper to us foreigners.
Another night bus onto Bonito, swimming in a natural pool, one Pancho and an the English guy went Cave Diving! Some went snorkeling and the last day rained out.

PANTANAL is a massive wetland area, which in season goes under 5 feet of water or so! Filled with cayman (small alligators), water pigs (like giant gophers), anacondas, lots of bugs, BIG bugs, monkeys etc. It was all about exploring.

We slept in a big room of hammocks and the guys who run the area were our tour guides, they walked around bare foot (even when wet), shirtless, and never seem to have any bug issues. Yet all the Gringos were soaked in DEET and still getting attacked. Must be something in the blood.

At one point we were walking and he suddenly stopped, walked over to a seemingly bare patch of ground, flicked some leaves, and found an injured baby animal (cant remember what it was) covered in ants! Poor thing probably fell out of the tree and was dieing, the guide somehow heard its cries. He cleaned it up and let it go but was unlikely to survive

Another day we went HORSE RIDING! Apparently I’m the only person who’s never been horse riding before? My horse was asleep at first, then half way woke up and was keen to stay up front. They were extremely well trained and steering was a matter of shifting the rope slightly in one direction. We chased some cows and then the last paddock is a free run to those who are game, so we galloped back! Awesome fun(bar stepping on an ants nest)!

We played a game soccer (fubtol) with the locals and I won’t mention the score. The heat was the least of our problems.

RTW: p67b – Santiago, Chile, Elmorado »« RTW: p67a – Santiago, Chile